JERUSALEM, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The Israeli shekel fell against the U.S. dollar for the fourth straight day on
Monday, adding to declines that analysts have tied to the
government's proposed changes to the judicial system.
The shekel was down 0.9% to 3.47 in afternoon trade against
the dollar after reaching 3.488 earlier in the day.
The currency had strengthened for much of January but
started to decline from a four-month high of 3.37 last week.
This coincided with economist warnings that a proposed legal
shake-up could impact investor confidence as well as massive
street protests.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his
government's bid to attain stronger political control over bench
appointments while weakening the Supreme Court's ability to rule
against legislation or policy.
He said late Sunday night that groups opposing his proposed
changes were trying to scare off investors.
"We made Israeli a solid free market economy. The
institutions are strong. Before the reforms it is strong and
after the reforms it will be even stronger," Netanyahu said.
The Bank of Israel and Finance Ministry declined to comment
on the recent slide in the exchange rate.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Steven Scheer
Editing by Mark Potter)
Messaging: ari.rabinovitch@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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